24 Hour Makeover: Modern Farmhouse Bedroom

Sometimes I get ideas in my head… big ideas… and thankfully, I have an incredible husband that jumps on board pretty quickly (most of the time!) On Christmas eve as we were falling asleep, I asked if he’d be okay if we did a 24 hour bedroom makeover for two of our friends that were away on vacation. They’re good people (the kind of friends you want to have) and they’d been talking off and on for three years about the rough shape of their bedroom. You know how some rooms, you just don’t know where to start, and so you get stuck. They were stuck. So Christmas eve (technically Christmas morning at 1:00am) Eric agreed to my idea of a 24 hour modern farmhouse bedroom makeover and my wheels started turning.

Not to shabby for 24 hours right? Here’s how it all went down… Obviously, we had Christmas festivities and lots of fun planned for our break, but on Christmas afternoon, on our way to dinner at my in-laws we stopped by our friends house, let ourselves in using the key they forgot we had, and snapped our before pics… I love that Eric is straight up whistling dixie or something… it’s true we’re both total whistlers (except I’m terrible at it… I’m a one note wonder, but it doesn’t stop me!)

Dec. 26th I hit the home improvement store early, got my supplies, and that afternoon we brought our kids over, popped a movie in for them and got to work! Clear the room. Install new molding. Build a headboard. Paint walls. Paint doors. We finished all of that in about 2 hours and called it a night.

The next day E and I worked in shifts, he went over to hang some shelves, while I ran to Target for pillows, then we swapped, I went and finished the faux doors, he fed our kids lunch, then we swapped again… You get the idea. It’s how we roll.

We finished the room in record time and then a couple other amazing gal pals came and cleaned our friends’ entire house and Eric and I jumped into a week-long marathon of Mangin Christmas activities with our out of town family!

Here’s some before and after eye candy and tomorrow I’ll get right into things with tutorials!

I’ve gotta say- I deeply loathe the positioning of the yellow mason jar. I must have bumped it at some point. I feel it’s my civic duty to let you know that I do not recommend a mason jar directly in front of a clock. #designerfail

I picked up the stitched floral print at Liberty Thrift and it’s been in my sunroom, but I thought it would look nice here. And I love the Batman printable- “always be Batman”

Before: Brown Hollow Core Doors… need I say more?!? I don’t need to, but I’m going to say more anyhow. These doors are the nemesis of many homeowners all across America (perhaps the world, but I can’t confirm that for sure) I knew building a new closet wasn’t an option in 24 hours, so I had to get creative…

After: How ’bout them apples?!? They’re like the awkward girl from high school that goes off to college and returns a smokin’ hot babe! They’re still the same old girl you knew, but so much cooler. I’ll be sharing the tutorial for these doors tomorrow, but let me just say this:

1 Sharpie + 4 wood planks + 2 handles = Faux Barn Doors

Tomorrow I’ll begin tutorials for this space. Make sure you check back- you can set a reminder in your phone if you need to.

I love this makeover a whole lot. I love that it proves you don’t need a ton of time and a ton of money to create an incredible space (duh, that’s kind of my mantra). But, even more than the space- I love doing stuff like this for people. I’m not a touchy feely, let’s hug it out kind of girl, but I do love making people happy, pulling off surprises, and overall just using what I’m good at (or at least halfway decent at) to encourage people and maybe impact their lives in some small way. That was one of my favorite parts of hosting our first TV show- seeing how much our makeovers really meant to homeowners. I can’t wait to get back to work with my new show and be doing this kind of thing all the time again!

I’d love to know what you think of this 24 hour modern farmhouse makeover!

Would you be freaked out if one of your friends surprised you with a makeover?

(don’t worry, they weren’t freaked out- they were happy, once they determined that they hadn’t been robbed!)

I would seriously kill you for this. It looks good, great in parts, and I know it was a lot of work and came from your heart, but I would die a thousand deaths to see the before published and know people had been in my space. I’m a housekeeper for a living and see these kind of before and after effects as part of my everyday life, and would never *ever* EVER publish or take a photo of a place before I cleaned it.

I’m glad your friend was OK with it! I do like the closet doors a lot. And everything is tidier.

I’m sorry. I really love you and I love your work. I just kind of wish you’d kept it to yourself. It makes a voyeur of me when I didn’t want to be.

I miss your show. You have so many great ideas. This makeover just gave me inspiration to do my bedroom. We have been in our place for almost three years now and all the rooms have been decorated (more than once) except our bedroom. Our bedroom always seems to be the place to throw everything that does not belong anywhere else. We always seem to run out of money when it comes to that room in the house so I am going to make it my mission to find a low cost way to make the room feel like a bedroom instead of a warehouse. Thanks for the inspiration.

Monica, this is incredible! It almost makes me wish I had hollow core sliding closet doors… I LOVE the barn door look! I also love stripping the lamp shade to the metal.. Might need to give that a whirl. You’re such a great friend for doing this, and kudos to hubby for helping out!

Monica, what a wonderful gift for your friends! You are so kind! I love the barn doors and how the planking on the walls give it the farm vibe. When my brother passed away, many years ago, my sweet sister-in-law came over and gave our small home a much needed makeover! I’ll never forget how loved it made us feel.

Monica,
What an awesome friend you are – great job! (Although I would be totally mortified if someone took pictures of my messy bedroom and posted them!- better make my bed, quick!). You did a beautiful job and even better, impacted the lives of your friends in a tangible and deeply meaningful way!
Warm regards,
Ruth Lutz

This is an incredible, gorgeous makeover! I would be thrilled if somebody did this for me, and if the only drawback was having my messy bedroom photos posted online, well I would consider that nothing more than a small inconvenience!
You’ve inspired me — I’m thinking of a makeover for our closet doors now, and they’re not even horrible doors! But this look would really add some lovely visual detail to the room.
I love your ideas and I’ve enjoyed watching the fantastic things you do on your TV show.

Once again shows how creative and energetic you are! Awesome how your hubs helped too. I’m trying to get a plan (And people) to surprise a tiny Animal Sanctuary with a small make over. All your tutorial
S help regular folks every day

I ready your post twice and thought how was it possible that you did such a great makeover in such a short period of time…Amazing!! My fave was the closet door! You are quite the visionary…well done!!! And oh yes, I would have been mortified too about the before photos but it could have always been in worse shape and just shows we do not live our lives like photos in a magazine. Very real, very normal, thank God!

Very nice makeover! Love that you show how a makeover can be done with so little $$$$…..guess it’s a matter of using your head & making some changes (like putting the bed on a bed frame instead of the floor!) that make a very real change in the way a room looks. Great job and great friend you are.

It took my husband and I an entire evening to hang some shelves… how the H did you manage this?! AMAZING! LOVE IT!! You have some very lucky friends! I would have loved to see the looks on their faces!!!

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Monica Mangin owns East Coast Creative and is the visionary behind its various creative endeavors. Designer, DIYer, TV Host, and Brand Ambassador, Monica is driven and energized by her creative passions. She is committed to making amazing style and experiences attainable and accessible for real life.